Thursday, September 25, 2008

Clickers II

At the end of Clickers, the invasion of a New England town by the title creatures and the Deep Ones that followed them had been thwarted, or at least survived. Apparently, however, the Deep Ones didn’t take too kindly their casualties suffered at the hands of the land dwellers, as, after a gap of several years, they return to exact revenge in Clickers II.

The sequel opens the scale of the story up considerably. The government took extreme measures to keep the first attack quiet, with Colonel Livingstone, who commanded the original battle against them, forced into retirement, and the survivors either killed or in hiding. The cover-up falls through when the clickers come ashore again, with the Deep Ones again behind. Instead of a localized occurrence this time, the invasion commences all along the Eastern Seaboard. As the aquatic terror rolls inland, Livingstone and one of the survivors of the first attack are forced back into the front lines. Hampering the efforts is an overly religious U.S. President (how likely is that?) who refuses to even believe the invasion is taking place, as that would indicate acceptance of evolutionary theory. By the time everything gets sorted out, you’ll be glad you don’t live too near the ocean.

As with the first one, this is a 50s B-movie in written form. But that isn’t a criticism, as the book is fast-paced and fun. J.F. Gonzalez is back as one of the co-writers, but original co-author Mark Williams died after the publication of the first book. His place is capably filled by fan-favorite author Brian Keene. Anyone who liked the first Clickers should pick up this superior sequel. And if you haven’t read the first Clickers, get ‘em both. They read well back-to-back.